Guns N’ Roses Plays Three-Song Tribute to AC/DC’s Malcolm Young

When AC/DC vocalist Brian Johnson retired from AC/DC in 2016, Guns N’ Roses vocalist Axl Rose stepped in to sing with the band on its Rock or Bust tour. On Sunday night (Nov 19), just hours after news broke that AC/DC rhythm guitarist Malcolm Young had died, Guns N’ Roses performed a heartfelt three-song tribute to the late musician.

“We’re gonna dedicate this to Mister Malcolm Young, who will be sorely missed by none more than his brother Angus,” Rose said at a concert in Sacramento, California, as an image of Young was displayed on a screen behind the band. Slash started the tribute by performing Alice Cooper’s “Only Women Bleed.” The band later posted 58 seconds of the song on social media with the words: “This goes out to Malcolm Young. He will be sorely missed.”

The second song in the tribute was a cover of Bob Dylan’s “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” and Guns closed with AC/DC’s “Whole Lotta Rosie.” The band has routinely performed all three songs on its comeback tour plus Rose sang “Whole Lotta Rosie” with AC/DC during his time as their touring frontman.

“Malcolm Young was one of the best ever rhythm guitarists in Rock n Roll,” guitarist Slash said in a statement to Rolling Stone. He was a fantastic songwriter and he had a great work ethic too. I toured with AC/DC on their ‘Stiff Upper Lip’ tour. I found Malcolm to be a really cool, down to earth fellow. The entire rock n roll community is heartbroken by his passing.”